Wouldn't it be nice if we can rejoice in every situation? The Apostle Paul had set us a good example, he had learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. He can be joyful, even when he was in prison.

Our sufferings (problems) today might not be as great as Paul's. But sometimes they can bring great impact to our lives, they can cause us to be sad, down or stressed out. In other words, we let our circumstances determine our attitude.

We need to learn the secret that enabled Paul to be joyful. We need to know our God in a personal way, focus on His will and have such a faith that God is the sovereign one over all things, He will surely carry us through. Paul did not live for his own interest/ ambition, he lived for God and for the purpose of supplying the word of God to others. The less self-centred we are, the happier we become.

Philippians 4:12
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

- Diven 

The wonders of God's presence is scattered throughout the bible, just awaiting each one of us to freely access...
In the presence of God, we find:
Rest - The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Ex 33:14)

Protection and safety - In the shelter of your presence you hide them from all human intrigues; you keep them safe in your dwelling from accusing tongues. (Ps 31:20)

Fullness of joy

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Ps16:11)

Victory

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. (Ps 27:6)

Acceptance

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. (Ps 27:10)And there is SO MUCH MORE!

In his book "Practice of the Presence of God", brother Lawrence simply says “He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.” 

Often times, I connect best with GOd while doing a jog outdoors, or listening to music or just turning my thoughts towards him while on the train to work. How will you connect with Him today?

-Jo Voon-

Have you ever noticed that one of the most common human experiences is the inability for us to be completely satisfied ? Unfortunately, salvation by itself doesn’t completely fill the need.

Many come to Christ out of their search for something missing. Yet after receiving salvation, they go elsewhere for further satisfaction .

Christians can be miserably dissatisfied if they accept Christ’s salvation yet reject the knowledge that daily relationship with God offers fullness and wholeness to oneself. God offers us so much more than we usually choose to enjoy, try your gracious Father dear friends. Listen to Him and He will reveal to you what is good.

Isaiah 55:2 NASB
Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.

- Anonymous

Are you encompassed with needs at this very moment, and almost overwhelmed with difficulties, trials and emergencies? These are all divinely provided vessels for the Holy Spirit to fill, and if you but rightly understood their meaning, they would become opportunities for receiving new blessings and deliverances which you can get in no other way.

Bring these vessels to God. Hold them steadily before Him in faith and prayer. Keep still, and stop your own restless working until He begins to work. Do nothing that He does not Himself command you to do.

Give Him a chance to work, and He will surely do so; and the very trials that threatened to overcome you with discouragement and disaster, will become God’s opportunity for the revelation of His grace and glory in your life, as you have never known Him before. Bring all your needs to Him.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

- A. Simpson

I don’t always know what to do; I don’t have answers to many questions. I too don’t enjoy being wronged nor taken advantage of. I don’t always act my best when I don’t get my ways. I don’t suppose I fit into the image of a trusting Christian who never question God's sovereignty and love.

"Yea, I’m just a human who is trying to do the best I can," but am I cowering behind that excuse and continuing on with my pity party? Sure, things don’t always work as you have planned, you may have missed the long awaited opportunity, you may have not gotten that job, some people may have treated you unfairly and the list goes on. Let's make a choice to cooperate with God; He is bringing the impurities in your character to light and He is showing you the hindrances in your character that stop you from receiving your breakthrough from Him.

Yea,  God’s way is higher than our ways and we would save so much grief and time if we were to make peace with the knowledge that yes we are no wiser than our Lord God. We may not understand all of His ways but we may well be assured that He is orchestrating everything for our good. Let God prune our impurities, refine our character and bring us to the path of victory.

Isaiah 55: 8 - 9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

- Irene Soon

For six whole hours, the Son of God was suspended between heaven and earth. And at the height of His suffering on the cross, He cried out in the deep darkness, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:45–46)

For the first time, Jesus addressed His Father as “God”. The Father had forsaken the Son. As Judge of the universe, God had to turn His back on His Son, who was carrying the filth of the world’s sins, for His eyes are too pure to behold evil. (Habakkuk 1:13)

If the Father had not turned His back on His Son, He would have to turn His back on you today when you call out to Him in your hour of need. But because Jesus has taken your place, today, you take His place, and you have God’s face smiling on you always!

Right now, God’s face is smiling on you. His countenance is shining on you. I can stand before you and declare, “The Lord make His face shine upon you.” (Numbers 6:25–26) And it is all because Jesus has paid the price for God to never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

As Judge, God turned His back on His Son. But as Father, He cried. His heart was broken because Christ was never more pleasing to Him than when He was on the cross. Christ’s suffering was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. (Ephesians 5:2)

Do you remember what Jesus said? “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.” (John 10:17) If you are a parent, you love each one of your children equally. But when one of them does something special for you out of love, it touches your heart, and you just want to run to him and hug him.

That was what happened at the cross, except that the Father could not embrace His Son. Instead, He had to turn His back on His Son because our sins had to be punished in His Son’s body.

Beloved, when you cry out to the Father for help today, know that He hears you and will surely help you. Because of Jesus, He will never turn His back on you!

Hebrews 13:5 …He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

-Joseph Prince (Daily Devotionals)-

In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, there is one verse in Acts 27:21 that particularly drew my attention – “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.” This happened when Paul was in captivity and was sent to Rome through the sea.

This chapter and particularly the verse, reminded me of the scene where Jesus asked Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (John 21:15-21). I always believe that Jesus asked Peter three times because he has denied Jesus three times as well. Jesus could have said to Peter: I have warned you that you will have denied me or didn’t you remember that I have told you that you will deny me three times? But instead of using those words, Jesus chose to speak with love right to Peter.

What Paul have said to the centurion and the sailors serves as a good reminder for me to imitate Jesus and to hold back words that could lead to pride or even dispute. How many times when we warn others and later it proves that we are right, we want to take credit for ourselves or even worse to point fingers to other.

Jesus did not say to Peter directly regarding the denial, but instead He asked Peter if he did love Him. Jesus used the love language to “rebuke” Peter and to “correct” him. Will we follow Jesus’ step next time when we are confronting others and we find that we are right?

1 Cor. 13:13
So now faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.

- Jenni Wang

One of the most important things I have learned is to let God do the heavy lifting. Too many times we see what's wrong with ourselves and try to fix it through our own strength, but this will never be good enough. Jesus said in John 15:5, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (NIV).

We may try to be self-sufficient, but we need to let God supply the grace and ability to do what we need to do. Willpower and determination can get us started, but they've been known to quit in the middle and leave us stranded.

We can learn to enjoy the life Jesus died to give us by inviting God to become involved in every aspect of it. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew11:28 NIV).

We are not made to function without God. And with Him, we can break any bad habit or addiction, like overeating, substance abuse, poor time management, anger issues, you name it. Jesus is bigger than any problem you have.

Prayer Starter: God, I know that I'm nothing without You, so I invite You into every area of my life. I'll let You do the heavy lifting, following and trusting You every day.

John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

- Anonymous

In Genesis 22, God said to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Now imagine that; Abraham had waited for such a long time to get a son, and when he finally received the promised son, he had to surrender him to God.

It is very difficult to surrender to God the things that we love most, things that we had waited for. They can be our spouse, our children, our parents, our plans/ hope for the future, our financial situations or the success that we have persevered to build for years.

These “Isaac” of our’s are our prized possessions; we spent many tears, time, money and effort for them but we often forgot that they had originated from God and God is the only One who has control over them. We treasure them so much that they become the priority in our hearts.

When other things other than God become the priority in our hearts, we would not have peace because things could be taken away and people always change. May we have the willingness to surrender our “Isaac” to God and have the utmost trust that Abraham displayed for he knows that God is a promise keeper.

Psalms 9:10
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

- Diven

Cyclone Katrina struck the coast of the United States in 2005. It is regarded as the 5th deadliest cyclone in the States, resulting in over 1800 fatalities and leaving a trail of damage worth over $80 billion!

At times in life, we may face mini "cyclones" that come and pass. We may be left with damaged dreams, wrecked hopes or a broken heart.

The good news is that Jesus came to heal, to rebuild what was broken and to restore what was stolen or lost. He came to bring freedom and wholeness to every part of our lives! Although we may feel the regret of lost time, Christ has come to restore double for your trouble! Believe and recieve it! This is our inheritance as believers of a wonderfully gracious God!

Isaiah 61:1, 2, 4 
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord ’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn... They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
-Jo Voon-